FAIRY TAIL – 168

Let the battles commence! Unfortunately, my beloved Stereo is unavailable for blogging today so I’m going to be taking her place covering FAIRY TAIL just this once. Sadly, that does mean this post probably won’t be nearly as awesome as usual since I can’t possibly hope to match her passionate writing, but I’ll do my best!

I’ve heard Stereo mention a few times that the pacing in the anime is far better than it was at this point in the manga and I find I have to agree. Things are moving quite rapidly in the manga and at times it feels like too much is going on – it’s almost as though Mashima is rushing to try and get ahead of the anime (I’m sure he’s not really)! In contrast, the anime is taking everything at a more leisurely pace, giving much deserved attention to the battles between other characters. This is something I really like, especially when there are so many interesting characters outside the main cast. Millianna’s moment in the spotlight against Semas is certainly something that deserves more than the mere two panels it was afforded in the manga! I love Millianna – she has to be one of my favourite non Fairy Tail guild members (no, it’s not just because she’s a catgirl, I swear!) so it’s entertaining to watch her make a comeback and win against Semas!

The Rufus vs. Eve battle is another good one with a little extra importance over Millianna’s fight. We learn a bit more about ‘Memory Make‘, a type of Ancient Magic which seems to allow Rufus to toy with memories and summon magic from his recollection. Eve certainly put up a good fight, but the ease with which Rufus blew him away almost suggests he’d merely been toying with him up until that point. The reason I consider this battle important is in Gray’s desire to be the one to defeat Rufus. This could be a pretty tough battle for him – Gray specialises in ice magic after all and we just saw how easily Rufus was able to decimate another similar magic user with the flames summoned from his memory.

At last we come to the highlight of the episode – the titular battle between Laxus and Alexei. Or rather, between Laxus and Alexei plus all of Raven Tail’selite! Many may already have guessed the connection between Laxus and Alexei from their names – they are in fact father and son! Seeing Fairy Tail react with shock as Laxus is beaten around by the masked Raven Tail member roughly mirrored how I felt when originally reading the chapter so long ago – the idea is preposterous. Laxus is one of the toughest mages Fairy Tail has to offer, an opponent that even gives Natsu a lot of trouble. What kind of absurd power would it take to be able to knock him around the arena so effortlessly? Sadly we don’t really see much of the actual battle this episode, merely the illusory duel between father and son while the discussion is ongoing. But we do get to learn Raven Tail’s true motive – not to win the tournament, but to presumably crush Fairy Tail as the anti-Fairy Tail guild.

Next week should be quite the spectacular episode! Not only will we have Wendy’s chance to shine, but the battle between Laxus and the entirety of Raven Tail’s elite should come to a head. This is one of the things I love about FAIRY TAIL, that magnificent spirit they have. No odds are too great – Laxus will happily take on the whole lot of them just as Erza took on every monster within Pandemonium! I’m looking forward to it already! So to end with Stereo’s tradition:

I love Mavis. She understands Fairy Tail so well, just as you’d expect from the first guild master. ‘Do everything to protect your comrades, and have fun.’ This is a tournament after all – a sporting event. Nothing is more important than enjoying participation!

Sometimes I find it really hard to take Blue Pegasusseriously. Perhaps it was they who should’ve had a name change!

Poor Eve, being subjected to such sights mid-battle! It’s no wonder he lost!

I still adore FAIRY TAIL’s music – not only is it magnificent by itself, but it always accentuates exactly the right moments!

I’ve noticed the Fairy Tail anime is starting to do these set up episodes more often now probably due to the fact they don’t want to catch up with the manga too fast. I for one am a fan of this kind of padding (not really filler by this point)as it fits better with the spirit of the manga, also getting to see more of Natsu (vs Sabertooth), Erza (vs Pandimonium), and Laxus (vs Raven Tail) go all out is great, as each of those “fights” were only really a couple of pages in the manga.

Secondly, wow. Seriously? Laxus vs Raven Tail and Wendy vs Celia in the same episode? I loved both fights in the manga and now they’re going to be animated at the same time? Fairy Tail is certainly an anime that makes me long for the next week to hurry up and arrive. Can’t wait for the next episode, it should be epic.

Also, I’ve heard rumors flying around that Fairy Tail might not run for much longer as, forgive me for forgetting the name, the artist/author isn’t keen on long series and doesn’t want it to become too commercial like some of the other long running series. While I do agree with the logic and don’t want Fairy Tail to be tainted by the want for money, I do hope that it stays around a while longer. It’s always to me felt like a long running series with the pace of a short one, the arcs don’t drag out, the fights are amazing, the characters are lovable and the story is strong. Here’s hoping it’s just rumors, but if not, well, I suppose a war against the dragons is a pretty explosive way to end things.

This is the biggest non Shueisha (Jump series of Manga anthologies) Shōnen Manga in Japan right now in terms of Tankōbon Volume sales. The idea that his editors would allow him to stop is hard to believe I mean even Akira Toriyama (who ironically Hiro Mashima loves) was “convinced” (more money) to do TWO “final arcs” of Dragon Ball after his initially planned ending (Frieza). All that said on the anime side of things its really hard for a Shōnen show to be cancelled from TV as it takes a Bleach/InuYasha level of falling sales to cut it short and right now Fairy Tail is flying high.

the screen caps on this show are great! but i wont be fooled a third time! every time i give this show another chance after being enticed by the pics i get treated to sub par animation, magic “cgi” circles, and terrible rotating,zooming and whatever else you could do with photo shop stills during action sequences……not enjoyable.
i realize shows like one piece get the lions share of budget and resources..but this show has been around for a while …right? why doesn’t it get treated to occasional peaks in animation and fluid battle sequences……ugh….i just cant stomach it

The animation quality is quite jumpy. For instance, I enjoyed this episode’s animation A LOT. It was the best one we’ve had for a while. But it’s possible the next one won’t be as good.. Too bad. Long running shows suffer from this. Even Naruto, sometimes the difference between two episodes is like a day and a night.